1. Field of the Description
The present invention relates, in general, to aerial displays using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) (also labeled “unmanned drones”) such as multicopters, and, more particularly, to a projection assembly for use with UAVs to provide an aerial display with floating or flying projection screens or displays with still or video images.
2. Relevant Background
For many years, there has been continued interest in creating new ways to project light and imagery and to otherwise provide aerial displays. In many settings, a laser lighting display or laser light show may be used to entertain an audience using laser light. The projected laser light or laser beams may be set to or synchronized to music. Laser light has proven useful in indoor and outdoor settings because the coherent nature of laser light allows a narrow beam to be produced that can then be used with optical scanning to draw or project patterns or images on walls, ceilings, or other surfaces including theatrical smoke and fog without refocusing as is common with video projection.
More recently, it has become popular to create outdoor light shows or displays using buildings as projection surfaces. For example, a Symphony of Lights is a synchronized light and laser multimedia display that uses the exterior surfaces of forty-four buildings on both sides of the Victoria Harbor of Hong Kong for projection surfaces to create imagery that is accompanied by music. This large scale display has attracted over 4 million visitors and is held every night for over ten minutes. The show includes flashes of laser lights and projected color patterns along with sweeping search lights/projection lighting as well as stationary lights provided on the buildings themselves (e.g., light emitting diodes (LEDs)).
Unmanned drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as multicopters including quadrotors, have been used to provide an illuminated light show in the sky. As regulations concerning use of UAVs change, it is likely the commercial use of UAVs will rapidly expand. However, the amount of information that can be displayed and the kinds of visual effects that have been achieved to date has been very limited. As a result, there remains a need for new technologies for generating aerial displays such as a display using unmanned drones to provide light-based displays and/or still or video images in an air space above an audience of spectators.